By Harry Minium
COLUMBIA, S.C. –Defeat with honor is a statement that isn’t in the lexicon of Old Dominion Head Football coach Ricky Rahne. But that clearly described what happened Saturday night at Willams-Brice Stadium.
ODU went toe-to-toe Saturday night with an SEC opponent on its own home turf. The Monarchs were often more physical than South Carolina and at times, outplayed the Gameco*cks.
But the ODU offense could not generate enough points and committed two crucial turnovers that led to two South Carolina touchdowns and allowed the Gameco*cks to claim a 23-19 victory.
The game was played before before a boistrous crowd of 78,946, the largest ever to see an ODU team play.
The final score will surely raise some eyebrows nationally. South Carolina was a three-touchdown favorite, and was in many ways outplayed by a Sun Belt Conference team at home. Power 4 teams rarely lose at home to Group of 5 schools.
That did nothing to salve Rahne's feelings.
"I'm not happy" with the outcome, Rahne said. "I expected to win this game."
It was a game the Monarchs probably should have won. ODU's defense was dominant and essentially limited the Gameco*cks to three field goals. ODU got consistent pressure on quarterback LaNorris Sellers and South Carolina had just 288 offensive yards.
Both South Carolina touchdowns came after Monarch turnovers inside the ODU 10.
Both turnovers came on fumbles from quarterback Grant Wilson, who completed 22 of 38 passes for 197 yards a passing and rushing touchdown and two interceptions.
Asked what he expected to tell Wilson when he spoke to him, Rahne said: "I would tell him to keep fighting, you know?
"He's a tremendously tough kid. And yes he had some turnovers and he knows he can't have those. We've got to continue to work with him."
"I have the upmost faith and confidence in him," he added."He will bounce back and have a tremendous game against East Carolina."
The Monarchs open their home schedule against East Carolina Saturday at 6 p.m. at S.B. Ballard Stadiium.
ODU trailed 16-7 midway through the third quarter when the previously moribund Monarch offense kicked into gear.
Wilson completed two passes to Myles Alston, and then on third down, was rushed from the pocket, and raced 36 yards for the touchdown to trim the South Carolina lead to 16-13 with 4:57 left in the third quarter.
Wilson displayed both the speed and deft moves on his scoring run that makes him such a difficult player to defend.
Then, after ODU’s defense held the Gameco*cks on downs, the Monarchs drove from their own 40 to the Gameco*ck 24, where the drive stalled.
Ethan Sanchez, who had a PAT blocked on the previous score, then drilled a 40-yard field goal to knot the score at 16-all with 14 seconds left in the third quarter.
The Monarchs then held the Gameco*cks on downs again, and the offense marched deep into South Carolina territory again before ODU again stalled.
Sanchez then kicked a 33-yard field goal to give ODU its first lead, 19-16, with 9:54 to play as the 1,000 or so Monarch faithful began chanting "ODU" in an otherwise quiet stadium.
The ODU defense then held the Gameco*cks on downs and with 7:52 left, and the Monarchs started at their own 10 yard line.
But that's when things became undone. On third down, Wilson scrambled up the middle and was stripped of the by ball by lineman Dylan Stewart. Lineman DeAndre Jules recovered.
It took two plays for South Carolina to retake the lead, 23-19, on a three-yard Sellers rush with 6:11 left.
Wilson was somber in the postgame press conference, but answered tough questions forthrightly.
"I thought I had a lane but the defense really closed quickly," he said of his last fumble. "I just didn't have the ball secured like I should have.
"I have to work extremely hard so it doesn't happen again."
ODU's offense got the ball back twice more but was unable to get into scoring position. Defensive back Jalone Kilgore iced the game with 1:21 left when he intercepted Wilson at the ODU 41.
The Monarchs got off to a rough start. On the game’s first drive, Wilson was rushed from the pocket and corralled by two South Carolina defenders, including Kyle Kennard, who knocked the ball loose. The Gameco*cks recovered at the three.
Raheim Sanders scored three plays later and the Gameco*cks led, 7-0.
Wilson recovered quickly from his mistake and quieted the boisterous crowd with a 72-yard TD pass to Isiah Paige that knotted the score at 7-7 just seconds later. He found Paige at the 25, and the speedster from Richmond junked to his right and then left again to shake off a defender and bounded into the end zone.
South Carolina made it 10-7 on a 40-yard field goal from Alex Herrera – the field goal was forced by a third-down sack by ODU’s Mario Thompson.
South Carolina led, 10-7, early in the second quarter when a lightning strike several miles away forced a 40-minute delay.
ODU’s offense struggled as it did before the delay, and ended the half with 97 total yards 72 of the coming on the bomb to Paige. Herrera kicked a 46-yard field gioal with 4:02 left in the first half.
ODU outscored the Gameco*cks in the second half, but it was not enough.
Rahne spoke directly to the South Carolina media as he ended his post-game press conference.
"Make sure these fans understand that the kids in the other locker room deserve to be able to feel good about winning this football game," he said. "Because they just played a heck of a football team.
"No one should make them feel bad about quote, unquote, barely winning. So, if that is the headline everybody's going to write, I assure you that it's not a good headline."
Notes: The 94-degree temperature at kickoff made it the hottest game in ODU history. The previous high was 90 degrees (2012 vs. Duquesne and 2019 vs. ECU) … Wilson’s 72-yard touchdown pass to Paige was Paige’s longest career reception and ODU’s longest pass play since Wilson hit Kelby Williams for 78-yards last year at Southern Miss … Koa Naotala and Jeremy Mack combined on a sack in the first quarter, the first of each of their careers … Keanon McNally, Zach Barlev, and Maarten Woudsma made their first career starts for the ODU offense, while Jahron Manning made his first career start on defense … ODU led the country last season with 12 touchdown drives in one minute or less, and the first one in 2024 was 30 seconds … Thompson had 2.5 sacks. He came into the game with two career sacks. The 2.5 sacks is tied for second-most in a game in ODU history … Alston picked up a first down in the third quarter with his first career catch. He finished with five grabs for 40 yards … Wilson’s 36-yard touchdown run was the longest TD run of his career … Paige recorded his first career 100-yard receiving game with a career-high 115 yards on eight catches … Patrick Smith-Young, a transfer from North Texas, had a game-high nine tackles and recovered and returned a fumble for 37 yards.
